Washington (CNN) - Facing his rivals for the Republican National Committee chairmanship in public for the first time since announcing his re-election bid, Michael Steele on Monday defended himself in the face of criticism that he let the party's finances languish during a historic election cycle.

Steele was appearing at a debate between RNC candidates sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform, the Susan B. Anthony List and The Daily Caller.
His foes immediately launched into pointed criticisms of Steele's two-year term.

"It is time for some tough love at the Republican National Committee," said Ann Wagner, the former Missouri GOP Chairwoman who took a particularly tough stance against the Steele era. "It is broken and it needs to be fixed. It doesn't need to be fixed for us, it needs to be fixed for our country. It cannot endure four more years of Barack Obama."

Steele had provoked the anger of several state GOP chairmen during the final months of the 2010 election cycle by spreading RNC funds across the country instead of targeting battleground states with competitive congressional races.

The chairman's critics said the 50-state strategy, punctuated by his nationwide "Fire Pelosi!" bus tour, wasted the RNC's meager war chest during a pivotal election.

Michigan Committeeman Saul Anuzis promised to be a chairman who will make "the trains run on time."

"The RNC needs to restore the trust and the confidence of our major donors, our grassroots activists," echoed Wisconsin GOP Chairman Reince Priebus, thought to be the frontrunner to replace Steele.

Then there was dark horse Maria Cino, a former executive director of the National Republican Congressional Committee pitching a record of competence. "I have successfully done this job before," she said. "I have turned around a national campaign committee that was in debt."

None of those remarks appeared to sit well with Steele as the debate progressed. He shook his head at several moments during the forum and at one point piped up to fend of criticisms that the committee's traditionally robust voter contact program went under-funded.

Steele said that while the RNC did not implement its traditional get-out-the-vote effort - the vaunted "72-hour program" - the committee leveraged 200,000 volunteers around the country to make 45 million voter contacts.

"Your state may have gotten X amount of dollars in the last cycle, but because we were playing in all 50 states, you didn't get that level," Steele said. "We found other ways to get resources, whether it was boots on the ground, technology, et cetera into your hands so that you can be competitive."

He added, "I think we won in all 50 states this year, and that's the goal: winning."

Calling the GOP "the party of Lincoln," Steele stressed that Republicans must continue efforts to reach out to non-traditional constituencies, namely Hispanics and African-Americans.

"This country is a lot bigger than we think it is sometimes," Steele said. "We cannot be a party that sits back with a litmus test and excludes. The national chairman cannot go into a state and say, 'You're less Republican than we are, I will not talk to you.'"

Steele seemed to downplay the importance of the debate while speaking to reporters after the event, which was streamed live over the internet. The audience at the National Press Club was largely composed of reporters and GOP operatives, but there were only a handful of voting RNC members in the room.

"This is a process that involves 168 people," Steele told reporters. "Ninety-nine percent of the people in this room will not vote on this matter. For me the opportunity is more precisely a personal relationship and conversation the individual members that all of us running for this job have to have."

soundoff(8 Responses)

Anuzis said he will make "the trains run on time"? Isn't that Mussolini's line? Typical Republican quoting a fascist dictator to illustrate how he will change the organization for the better.

January 3, 2011 04:40 pm at 4:40 pm |

Terrence

Hey Steels they don't need u no more! And I wonder why? Silly rabbite republican are back stabber, and that no joke because you see for your self.

January 3, 2011 04:41 pm at 4:41 pm |

maine liberal

the republicans dont need their token black guy anymore. its time for them to take back the white roots and the go the way of the white teamparty.

January 3, 2011 04:57 pm at 4:57 pm |

Phil in KC

Interesting that the Republicans made huge gains in the past election and they're looking to get rid of thier chairman. Meanwhile, the Democrats took a beating and all signs indicate that they will keep their chairman. What's wrong with this picture?

January 3, 2011 04:59 pm at 4:59 pm |

Dominican mama 4 Obama

Steele you're going up against the same people that claim that President Obama is NOT a U.S. citizen, so good luck with reason, logic, and documentation!

Bwahahahahaha!!!!!

You talked a lot of 'smack' about your President in your useless effort to suck-up to evil incarnate. I am beyond gratified that there is indeed something to the old saying 'Karma is a -itch'! And let's not forget: 'What goes around comes around'!

January 3, 2011 05:03 pm at 5:03 pm |

Sniffit

This is as interesting as watching dog turds age and turn white.

Honestly, I would love to see Mushmouth magically smack these prancing nancies around, but it's all a bit like watching an mad-max-esque intellectual cage match with mental quadropalegics as the combatants. Two men enter...talk alot yet say nothing...

January 3, 2011 05:11 pm at 5:11 pm |

GonzoinHouston

Steele is on his way out because the power brokers that put him in the office have now realized they don't need him any more. His original selection was a cynical effort to look less racist after the outrageous '08 campaign. Now they're back in power and they don't care how they look. Steele needs to hang it up and look for a publisher for his inevitable tell-all.

January 3, 2011 05:21 pm at 5:21 pm |

PalmReader

Apparently Steele is the only person in America who hasn't yet realized that GOPers were never all that interested in HIP HOP punditry - no matter who was selling it.